Ange à l'encensoir vêtu d'une robe pourpre

Bernhard Strigel's Angel Thuriferaire in Purple Robe forms a pendant to the yellow-tunic angel, the pair designed to flank a central devotional image in a wing altarpiece or tabernacle structure. The two angels, carrying their incense burners in contrasting colored robes, represent the celestial worship that accompanies sacred imagery in both earthly liturgy and the heavenly court. Strigel's elegant figure style, influenced by the court taste he cultivated through Habsburg service, gives these liturgical attendants the graceful dignity appropriate to their role as mediators between the divine presence and the worshipping faithful.

The painting demonstrates the technical conventions and artistic vocabulary of the period, with attention to composition, color, and the rendering of form appropriate to the subject.